The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin has called on the Justice Department to investigate text messages that they say targeted and threatened to discourage young people from voting in the November election.
The League of Women Voters says it first became aware of the alleged text campaign on October 10, when the group received numerous complaints from voters who had received the text. Two twenty-somethings who work with the League of Women Voters also received the message, which reads: “WARNING: Violating WI Statutes 12.13 and 6.18 may result in fines of up to $10,000 or 3.5 years in prison. Do not vote in a state where you are not eligible.”
The voting rights rules for students are no different than for other Wisconsin residents, who must have lived at their current address for at least 28 days before the election to vote there.
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Some Republican-controlled states have tried to restrict student voting, enacting legislation to restrict the use of student ID cards as a form of voter ID and closing campus polling places. Most lawmakers justify the measures as a means to prevent voter fraud. Others have openly complained that voting is too easy for students – who prefer Democratic party candidates.
“They basically put the polling place next to the frat house so all they have to do is roll out of bed, vote and go back to bed,” Trump’s former attorney Cleta Mitchell told donors at a retreat in April 2023. During the meeting, Mitchell reportedly emphasized the importance of limiting voting on campus.
In Wisconsin, Republican lawmakers introduced a bill in 2024 that would require University of Wisconsin campuses to provide students with information on how to vote from their home state.
Debra Cronmiller, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, said she hoped for “some accountability for trying to intimidate these voters” and that the apparent mass text was unusual.
“We have planned as voting rights organizations, as national organizations, a lot of different scenarios of things that could disrupt our elections,” Cronmiller said. “I think the reason we were able to respond so quickly to this particular threat was because we were as prepared as we were.”
In their letter to the attorney general, Merrick Garland, the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin and the nonprofit Free Speech for People claimed the text message was “targeted at young voters ages 18 to 25” and “reached many voters which is part of the University of Wisconsin system”. Now, the letter claims, “many students and other young voters fear they will face criminal charges if they register and exercise their right to vote – because of a malicious, inaccurate text sent by an anonymous party.”
The groups asked the attorney general’s office to investigate and identify the person or group behind the text messages.
